What are we
by Pumpernickle
Summary: After the apocalypse, our trio's memories are erased and replaced, but how will Dean react when a certain angels abilities begin to shine through?


I own absolutely nothing.

**What Are We**

Dean and Cas had been friends a long time, all the way from the start of primary school, into high school, and now into college. There were a few other constants, Sam, Gabriel, Anna, Chuck and Jo could be counted as friends, and the others, well they didn't matter anyway. What mattered right now was that while Dean and Cas were friends, best friends, they weren't hanging out as much as they used to, and that worried the both of them. Right now, however, they were hanging out, and everything was good, was being the operative word, until Dean asked Cas why he was staring at him so much, and Dean pushed him lightly, as light as you could, yet he still went toppling. Gathering himself, he replied.

"I can see your soul", _stupid Cas_, Dean thought, _seeing my soul, pffft_.

"Yeah whatever," Dean continued fixing his hair in the bathroom mirror, Cas looked at the reflection and then back to Dean

"No really, I can"

"Oh really," Dean mused, "Well then, what am I thinking?"

"Your mind is different to your soul Dean" Cas replied in a deep gravely tone, "But I can see your mind too", _Weiiiirdooooo_, Dean thought to himself, _What does he think I am, gullible_. Dean mentally chuckled to himself, imagine if Cas could read minds, that could be advantageous. Dean had almost forgotten how funny Cas could be, still. Dean was so caught up in his own thoughts, he missed what Castiel had said.

"What?" Dean said, all to not graciously

"I said, 'Weirdo'"

"What? Why?"

"Because, thats what you were thinking", Mentally scoffing, Dean decided he shouldn't be so predictable.

"Good guess" Cas said at the same time as Dean, "What the fuck, you are good" They said again in unison. Now Cas began speaking by himself.

"'_Im way to predictable_', no your not, '_Jesus Christ, he is good_', no, I can read your mind, '_I hope he cant really read my mind_', well I can, why not, '_Ah, what do I think_'" By now Cas was saying Deans lines as if he had to read out the most boring text in the world, "Think what you want to, '_What do I think_', whatever you want, '_I cant think of anything_', thats okay, I could always pry further" Dean was mentally screaming for Cas to stay out of his head, however, he did not voice this, as words failed him, and all he managed to do was scream a big, mental NO! "Or you could say that" Cas finished. He was glad that Cas was trustworthy, he believed in Dean like he was god himself, and now with Cas out of his mind, he could think whatever he wanted. He found himself grateful that Cas did whatever he said, no matter how selfish he was, which was probably a bad thing for Cas, he was like a self employed slave, however, Dean wouldn't use him like that.

"Thanks, just, don't do that again, unless its life or death or something" Dean told Cas, shoving him once again, this time harder, and he was surprised when Cas didn't move at all. So Dean was freaked out with the soul-seeing and the mind reading, but now light-as-a-feather Cas wouldn't budge, he was thoroughly confused. He moved forward and pushed him again, when he didn't move, he pushed him as hard as he could, still no movement. Anger began to take over, his only defence if his strength was nothing, which was saying something, he was the strongest on campus.

"What are you" Dean spat

"I-I don't know what you mean" Cas still had no idea anything was wrong

"Why didn't you tell me you could read my mind before, or see my soul?"

"Because I couldn't till just then?" Cas was self-conscious and unsure of how to answer without receiving a fist in the face, he did not want that, and he couldn't get angry, so, unlike Dean, he had no defence. He just had no anger in him. Dean tried once again, and shoved Cas into the sink, surprised that he even moved.

"Tell me what the fuck you are!" Dean knew all about the evil in the world, Bobby had taught him and Sammy, whilst ensuring they had a good education, and Dean knew he could kill whatever had taken Cas and replaced it with ... With this.

"I don't know what your talking about Dean!" Cas rushed, panic thickly layering his voice, Cas had to be the gentlest man around, wouldn't harm a fly, and always seen as the weakest, which was why Dean had to protect the little shit when he got in trouble, or so he thought, until that one time, okay, maybe two times, or maybe every time he was in such a position, when Cas beat the hell out of the dicks that were after Dean. But the point was, seeing him like this was, well, not usual, but expected, which means it had something to do with his dick family.

"Come on," Dean growled, grabbing Cas by the collar of his trench coat and leading him out into the cafeteria where Gabe and Anna, his brother and sister would be, they would know what was up.

"Gabriel!" Dean shouted across that cafeteria, warranting everyone's attention, if Dean was angry, you just know a good fight was gonna break out.

"Hi Dean," Anna and Gabriel greeted, standing up from the table and moving so that it was no longer between them. Gabriel continued, "What's up?" By now, Dean had changed his hold on Castiel, and was holding him there by the fabric between his shoulder blades. Gabriel noticed the fear in his own voice, however small and unnoticeable it was, and he hated it.

"Dean wants to know who I am" Castiel replied for Dean, and he was now standing like always, blank expression, not a care in the world, except Dean was raging on for some reason.

"What? Its Cas" Gabe replied, Anna was rather unsure around Dean, and decided she just wouldn't talk.

"He wants to know what I am" Castiel corrected, Deans temper was thinning.

"Castiel, the human being" Gabriel said as if Dean was stupid

"No!" Dean spoke up, "You did something!"

"What?"

"Cas can not read my mind, normally, or see my soul. And NOONE can be as light as a feather one second, and a Fucking Elephant The Next!" Dean was shouting by the end of the sentence. Gabriel stepped forward, challenging Deans glare, and Dean let go of Cas, sure he would stay put.

"What do you want?" Gabe spat

"I want the TRUTH!" Dean spat back with just as much, if not more, venom to his words.

"What truth?" Dean could tell he was hitting home on something, Gabe didn't just get this mad for no reason.

"The truth about Cas!" Everyone was gathering around in a tight circle around Dean, Gabe and Cas. Anna had fallen back into the crowd, but was standing on the edge, ready to jump in. Cas was frowning at the interaction in front of him.

"There is NO TRUTH!" Gabriel shouted and shoved Dean, and that was the worst idea he'd had all day. The whole point was to keep the secret, not force Cas to expose it, even if Cas had no idea of what was going on. So Castiel had been getting a little close to exposing the secret with all the shouting at Dean for Gabe's liking, but shoving him was the worst thing he could do, and Castiel was ignited with sudden rage, that of which had never been seen before. And then Cas shouted, a mighty 'Stop this' that had enough force that, had it been a physical force, would have sent every table, chair and other object hurtling at indescribable speeds towards the glass doors that surrounded the whole cafeteria, smashing them into eons of tiny pieces of glass that would rain down on the grass outside. As it happened, it was, and the only reason people weren't harmed was due to the fact that they had gathered around in tight formation, away from the tables and heir paths of destruction. Many people screamed, but they all stayed. Castiel moved forward and pinned Gabriel to the wall, their faces inches apart. It distantly reminded him of something, _I rebelled for this?, So you could surrender to them?, _Dean too, but neither of them could pin-point the exact memory, so the brawl continued, everyone in awe as Castiel hulked out in front of them all. His forearm was against Gabe's neck, pinning him to the wall where the other hand was, pushing against the cold bricks. Cas swung the free arm around and pointed at Dean, a silver blade doing the pointing as he held it with an iron grip. Everyone noticed how it materialised in his hand. Cas, by now, had realised the truth in Deans words.

"Tell him," He spat, "What I am, I think he deserves to know after all this, and maybe I do too." More flashesof some distant past flashed, but he ignored them,_ I gave you everything, and this is what you give to me?_, pushing forth, and brining the blade back around, holding it to the side of Gabriel's neck. People, by know, new that something was not right, and had worked there way back to the messes blocking the exits, and after realising there was no escape, armed themselves with debris. One guy noticed the open doors, and made a run for it, but they shut in his face, and a deep growl came from Castiel's throat, "No one leaves!" He had, effectively, locked the whole world out, and noone could do a thing, except Anna, who had hoped that, even though this was all very real, that, maybe he still didn't quite have all of his powers, and so she walked to the debris and picked up the metal leg of a broken chair.

Gabriel was fretting, Cas was incredibly strong, which was why they had all had their memories erased and replaced by Zachariah after the apocalypse, Gabriel and Anna, who had also been brought back, amongst others, had to keep an eye on them, too bad now. He noticed Anna moving out of the corner of his eye, and before he could realise wat she was doing and stop her, she had buried the chair leg deep into Castiel's left side, so it was sticking out in the way of his arm, and in far enough to stab through his lung and into his heart, before continuing to the other lung.

Castiel faltered and Dean screamed. He screamed with more force than he ever had and felt as if he, himself had died. Cas continued to fall backwards, and everyone had just witnessed murder, until something else happened, and Castiel was forgotten, his limp form falling to the ground. Anna, or a second, transparent, image of Anna was standing in the middle of the floor, reaching up to her chest and pulling a crowbar bloody and long out of her frame, before droping it to the ground. And then she flickered away, like a hologram. Everything was quiet, and noone moved. Quiet and still until the sound of metal against tile screeched through the air, and everyone turned there attention to Castiel's not so limp form, standing from the ground, moaning and then pulling the leg out of his side and dropping it to the ground absently. Then everyone screamed. Dean, however, was so happy, he could run forward and hug the bloody form of Cas, but Castiel had other plans, and once again moved towards Gabriel. Gabriel, apparently, also had plans, and turned Castiel, slamming him into the wall, and produced a silver blade of his own.

"Cas," He whispered, firm and strong, even though everyone could still hear, "This" He held up the blade, "Will harm you, so be careful with it, and with who you use it against." And just to prove his point, he drew the blade across Castiel's face, who screamed bloody murder, before his voice became that of a high frequency squeal as Gabriel pushed the blade deeper, causing everyone to cover their ears. Cas pushed him off and kicked him across the room, and noone paid mind to Gabriel, because it was Cas that everyone was scared of. Cas wasn't supposed to be mad, ever, I fact, everyone thought that it might be impossible, out the window with that theory. And then everyone saw the cut across his face disappear. It wasn't the weirdest thing they had seen all day. Everyone dropped whatever they had to defend themselves, as they were useless.

And that was when Mr. Z, or Zachariah popped in. How he got in was a wonder to everyone, but they were pleased that there was a civilized adult around to calm Cas down, if that could be done. As he stalked towards Cas, who had never liked Zachariah much, he saw Dean, who also despised him. Dean was still in the middle of all this without so much as a hair out of place. But Zach had to stop thinking for the moment as Cas brought his hand up and rested it in mid air, before he was thrown from halfway across the room, to all the way across the room. Dean had to say he was proud, scared shitless, yes, but proud never the less. Cas had some cool shit going on, and as long as he wasn't hurt, he was cool, and he found that most of the reason he wasn't hurt was because of Cas. Most loyal friend ever, he thought to himself, which Cas must have heard, as he turned to Den and gave a rare half smile, before continuing on, on his path to kill everything that tried to get near Dean without his consent. The correct term was smite, but neither of them knew that at the moment. One of the things that scared Dean was that Castiel, apparently, thought that all of this was justified and right, all for what, to protect him? Castiel turned once again and nodded, confirming Deans wild guess. And now Dean was wondering Why in hell Cas would do this, but he supposed he could be answered later, as Gabe, Zach and Anna were now approaching Castiel in the hopes of stopping his rage. Good luck there kiddo's.

There was a good reason for this, in Zachariah's mind, because Castiel kept coming back, meaning he was important, and since the apocalypse he was even stronger than he originally was, even if he didn't realise how powerful he was originally, which meant that Castiel could be the worlds biggest superpower, ever. So Zachariah thought that his reasoning was justified, he just never thought that Castiel had such an attachment to Dean, he probably should have looked that over before all of this. So thats when he called in some other revived help, because, even though the apocalypse was over, Dean still needed to be safe, and this wasn't a very good place to be.

"Uriel" He shouted, calling forth another teacher out of apparently nowhere, noone paid him attention, "Get Dean out of here!" Everyone was still watching Castiel, as he fought off the three of them, and then he turned to see Uriel Grabbing Dean's arm. That was a nerve noone should have ever touched, because Castiel disappeared, leaving everyone amazed, until they noticed he was over with Dean, and holding Uriel by the neck, even if he was so much taller than him. Uriel was then driven into the ground, and Castiel brought his sword up and drove it through Uriel's neck, a bright flash and a pair of blackened wings later, Castiel stood up, bloody sword tight in his hand. Another memory flashed into life, of Anna stabbing Uriel through the neck, how he died the first time. Castiel furrowed his brow and tilted his head, starring at the spot even after the image had stopped. Then he turned to Anna.

"You died too" He began, "Michael killed you" And then Anna's death formed to show the rest of the people who did not understand, her form burning bright in the centre of the cafeteria. The pain echoed in Castiel's mind, reminding him of his own pain, and then his own role played out, and he turned his head to the side, away from Anna to watch his own death, lasting less than a second, as he exploded. He then turned back to Anna. "Michael killed you because you tried to kill Sam and Deans parents"

"yes but,-" She was cut off

"So you don't deny it? You are a monster"

"No, I-" She didn't get to finish her sentence as Castiel brought his hand up and snapped his fingers, blowing her out of existence, the same way that had happened to him, twice. Now that the cafeteria was bloody and the scene of two murders, people were ripping themselves apart trying to scramble through debris. Castiel turned to Zachariah next, who was now extremely worried.

"And Dean killed you," He began, multiple mixed scenes playing out as he remembered all the events, "I walked in and killed Periah, before banishing myself and 4 others, while you caused Sam and Adam to haemorrhage in front of Dean, before he killed you with my sword. That was when I became human. I am not lying when I say that you, Anna, Alistair and Uriel have been the only ones to ever cross the line between dislike and hate." Zachariah swallowed loudly

"Thats because we harmed him, right?" Castiel nodded before zapping from his place to beside Dean, handing him the sword and zapping next to Zachariah. Dean felt all of his rage build inside him as he remembered certain parts of his true past, and he drove the sword through Zachariah's jaw the same way as before. Now the cafeteria was in complete disarray, and Gabriel was the only supernatural creature left, Dean wanted some answers.

"What is he?" He asked, "And you cant just blow past the subject now, so quit stalling and just tell us!"

"Castiel," He began, panting, this was hard work, "Castiel is an angel of the lord." And with that the cafeteria became one huge 3D cinema, capturing everyone's attention, as their lives played out for them in fast forward, certain parts slowing down to real time, such as the time when Dean fist met Cas.

After a very long screening of their lives, Castiel turned to Gabriel and simply said, "You helped us, thankyou brother, I will not bother you again, unless it is your will" And Castiel was back to his normal self. Dean took the opportunity and rushed forward to hug him, something he realised he should have done a long, long, long time ago, and if that didn't sound chick-flick, he didn't know what did. Castiel was stiff, surprise taking over as he had no idea what to do. He gently pulled his arms around Dean, and then, figuring it out, pulled him tighter, making sure not to crush him. Dean pulled them tighter once again and said the most sincere thankyou he ever could. They pulled apart, but Cas still had his arm on Deans shoulder, and after moving slightly, it was pressed tight against his scar and dean felt like he was home, the best feeling ever, the feeling that he had missed his whole life, the same feeling there had been in the hug. And that was why Cas was the best, because he just understood, he made him feel like he was safe, and he could share his load with him, unlike everyone else, and also, Cas understood what he said. He actually didn't have to say anything for Cas to understand, he just would, he'd understand what Dean couldn't say, but wanted to, thats why Castiel was the best.

Bobby ran in then, he however, still had no memories.

"What's happening in here?" He demanded, seeing the bodies on the floor, and frowning when they brought forth hidden memories.

"Bobby" Castiel began, speaking like normal, his normal.

"Cas! Do you mind-" He was about to demand an explanation before something clicked, "Cas?" He walked forward and pulled him into a tight hug, in the real world, he hadn't seen Cas in over a year, noone had, and Cas, now experienced with hugs, reciprocated. "Its good to see ya boy" Bobby replied, tears threatening their way out.

"It is good to see you too, Bobby" Castiel stepped back, turned, and held his hand out again before everything returned back to normal, he walked to the bodies and zapped them elsewhere and then healed everyone without their knowledge, before walking to Sam, dragging him towards Bobby and Dean, and zapping the four of them away. When they landed, there were a thousand times more hugs.


End file.
